Because i want to see folks playing it! Lotsa work went into writing Warglory, i'd like it to spread.

The thread is for those interested in running (or playing) a game like this. I'm the author, and if in reading the thread anyone's curiosity is piqued & interest stirred to run a game feel free; i've been running these for quite some time and hope to see it spread around.

The core concepts can be readily applied to other settings & wars in different eras; i have, many times. These rules and their earlier versions have done blackpowder, science fiction, trench warfare and the maneuver warfare that immidiately followed.

For questions or advise just ask.

Forward

Warglory is a game of soldiers, of fighting, of choosing either to follow the rules & survive or break them and earn a name, a reputation with life longer than yours.
Marines is set in Warglory’s fantasy universe, told not from the eyes of man but from those of the things he once believed in. It borrows heavily from old Norse, Slavic & German myth. Dvergr – the black elgi – are a formidable race often pitted against the wilder powers of man, fae, troll and monsters far across the many worlds of Yggdrasil linked by the spirit conduits of the World Roots. In this game it is the setting’s second Great War, fought with gun and bomb and bayonet, with armoured column and infantry, with air support and artillery. Strange magics bloody the mudfoot’s fight as players seek glory in the most terrible war yet between man & monster of a universe thick with peril.

This is an established game. I’ve been running it for over 3 years now; it has grown considerably from its bone-simple beginnings. There have never been hit points, nobody shrugs off bullet wounds and melee is as much about good writing as it is roll of the dice. Tactics revolve around fire and manoeuvre, with magic offering situational utility for those who pursue the sorcerous paths & ken the wielding of them.

Rules are simple and low on bookwork, designed always for forum play. Every shot can kill, every melee roll could incapacitate one or both combatants. Combat can be brutal and unforgiving; GMs are best to interpret events in a player’s favour when no mistake is made, but fools live fast and die young.

"Follow the rules to stay alive; to make a reputation, break them!" - The Saxon Stories by Bernard Cornwell

Warglory uses simultaneous turns. You elect what you attempt to do in your turn, roll for it, and the GM resolves that against enemy action. This means some or all of your actions may ultimately be ignored if you get shot & incapacitated. There is no initiative roll; it’s smarter than that.

Anyone not moving shoots first.- It’s important to remember that, since big guns have horrible reflex modifiers which are often totally irrelevant when you run into them. Even worse, if you’re ambushed you’ll probably roll reflex to get any actions at all in the first turn of combat. Best advise is find ‘em and flank ‘em.

Snap Shots are a Reflex check then one quick shot.They’re used against fleeting targets, against enemies in the last meters of a bayonet rush and when two moving troops stumble across each other – rounding the bend at the same time for example. Light, snappy guns are great for this.

Normally, no reflex roll is made. After first turn of a firefight who shoots first is entirely situational, you will usually be shooting at the same time by volley – I’ll resolve everyone’s first shots, then their middle shots, then everyone’s last shots all in one big heap and write up how it went. Survivors then pick actions for next turn and roll accordingly, rinse and repeat.

So don’t assume you can fire off all your shots with impunity. You never will. Take cover and be careful about biting off more than you can chew; if you’re the only or easiest target the enemy can see (IE: You’re in the open), you’ll win a Darwin award by staying there. ALWAYS remember the rifleman’s drill: Take cover, observe, shoot!

Characters have few stats, relying on their skills, race & abilities to see them through. They do however have Grit & Reflex; you cannot put points in them, they are fixed based on race, character advancement and starting traits.

Grit is a physical & mental toughness, will to live and fighting spirit. It is used for saving throws & resisting injury.

You may shoot at up to 2 targets per turn. Spend all shots between them.

Roll D10 + Accuracy for each shot
Automatics also add Recoil for each burst (max bonus of +3, min to fire of -3)

Aiming is optional, but sure does help for tough shots.
It takes a halfturn action and adds the Aim bonus to accuracy vs the aimed-at target.Calculated Aiming is for very long shots
Each turn spent grants %100 of the Aim bonus (if a Detect roll is passed)
Up to 2 turns of Calculated Aiming may be taken
The bonus lasts until the target moves or you reload (deployed guns retain Aim bonus after reloading)

Manual cyclers (bolt, pump, single & lever actions) can make a Cyclic roll to achieve +1 shots on a roll of 7+ at the cost of -1 Accuracy that turn & losing their aim bonus.Semi-autos can squeeze off +1 shots per turn at -2 accuracy to all shots that turnAutomatics can hose extra bursts (up to twice as many per turn) at X2 Recoil (-1 or worse) AND each extra burst is worth 2 in ammo spent and more heat; this reflects full auto hosing with many wasted bullets.
Automatics can squeeze off single shots with deft triggerwork, but will often fire 2 or 3 by mistake. They roll the same number of shots when doing this (see Select Fire in weaponlist for exceptions)

Snap Shots
Quick, single shots against fleeting targets (or chargers about to bayonet you). They come off your shots-per-turn. It's heaps easier if you're expecting it & pointed that way.

Roll Reflex. If target is <10m away & charging you can try a snap shot, but they roll Reflex too & if quicker will deny you the shot. Roll melee too, because if you fail you'll need it. Each succesful snapshot comes off your shots per turn.

GM will occasionally permit snap shots vs fleeting targets, like those ducking between cover or when two groups walk into each other (as through smoke) to determine who reacts first.

Guns have a Snapshot mod. It applies to this reflex check.

There is never time to Aim a snapshot; roll one attack. Hope it hits!

Double Guns
Its possible to use two guns at once; just not possible to AIM two at once. Nonetheless it's a useful tactic with slow cycling or very low ammo count weapons.

-2 Accuracy, -2 on Cyclic rolls
Ranges drop to 30/50/noshot at best (each increment remains normal if lower)
Aim only possible with one gun if the other is held aside, bonus lost if both are fired
Shoot full number of attacks with each gun
+1 to targets you can engage per turn
Light & Sidearm weapons only
Does not work well with bolt-actions and pumps (need spare hand to cycle one)

Target Examples
I might tell you how hard a target is. I often won't. Cest 'la vie.

Easy = Guys in the open & not far away
Not easy = they're shooting back! Or they have cover, but not far away.
Hard shot = You're moving or they're cover, putting up good return fire from not far away
Trick shot = In cover & long way off, or you're under heavy fire
Impossible = 2km shot, The Sky is Falling!, ghosts trying to kill you, some prick jostles you, etc

Jams
Are not the end of the world. Tap, rack & bang (1 turn) usually does the trick. Stubborn ones might waste up to 5 turns (rare).
It's when it really breaks that you're in trouble; that takes spare parts. If you're in combat, forget it - find another gun!

Half turn to ready, half turn to throw.

D10 roll to toss one. If you fumble it (nat 1), Reflex check to get it away from you or dive clear of it.

Can hold it a halfturn to cook it, but if you fumble that you're toast.

Targets in cover or near it roll Reflex to avoid the grenade, anyone near it can roll the same to return it. Tossing it back is harder & risks mortal injury.

Anything exposed in the blast radius is considered hit. Anything in cover might be, it's 50/50 if they fail their Reflex check.

Warglory has previously used some fairly involved melee systems, but the original was the simplest. Creativity & smarts describing your melee action can earn bonuses & even overcome the will-o-the-dice in a tight spot. Get stuck in!

Both opponents roll D10+melee each turn. If rolls are within a point of each other, both are hit. If 2 or more points apart, high roller hits the loser cleanly. If it's more than 5 points, high roller inflicts a kill result. See damage rules.

Characters have Grit. See Stats about bonuses it gives in melee.

Blunts are often non-lethal. They tend to down & stun; anyone down or stunned fights at -3, anyone who's both can't win.

Charging >5m gives +3 melee in turn 1 of a melee.
Defender with a gun can attempt a Snap Shot, if he has time. See shooting rules.

Melee vs a group
Roll melee. Group all roll melee, your dice faces the highest roller + half the combined roll of the rest. Beat 'em you drop one, beat 'em by 3+ you drop two, 6+ for 3 etc

GrapplingRoll melee like normal, but if it becomes a grapple then most weapons won't help. Watch out for garroting wire & knives; if either are involved in a grapple, the winner takes it and uses it on the loser to end it instantly. Otherwise, it takes 3 consecutive win results to beat an opponent in a grapple (each gives +1 to the winner in the grapple).

Two Weapon Fighting & Throwing A Weapon
An offhand weapon grants +1 Melee
Requirements vary change by weapon & character stats
Characters take the damage stat from the heaviest weapon (highest damage), if using two of the same weight they add +1 damage for the combo
Dual wielding does not help in a grapple. You need at least one free hand.

When throwing a melee weapon, use your base Accuracy for the D10 attack roll and roll Grit for range beyond 10m.
It takes the same requirements to throw a weapon as it does to offhand it
Anything that affects melee damage with said weapon will affect it's range damage if thrown.

Body armour's a life saver! The GM will roll armour saves for any & all things as has them that are hit in combat, whether it's in melee or from gunfire. Most troops won't have any - it's heavy and expensive - but for a lucky few.

Weapons have a Penetration rating (Example, P4 ballistic)

Armour has a Save (example, D6 vs ballistic)

When a target is hit, GM rolls it's armour save and it must beat the weapon's Penetration rating - that is the threshold. In the above examples, it must roll a 4+ to prevent death or injury.

Damage of types the armour wasn't built for it can't help with! Even old fashioned Dvergr Battle Armour, tough though it is vs a gun, won't help at all against a flame thrower or the choking grasp of a garroting wire.

Day Eyes (10m at night, fine in the day)
Lesser Night Eyes (20m at night, 500m in the day)
Night Eyes (50m at night, 300m in the day)
Greater Night Eyes (100m at night, 100m in the day)

Targets spotted beyond normal sight range are harder shots than usual; a trooper can often only just see it, and will usually be unsure whose shape they're seeing - be it friend or foe.

In the night before battle, Svada of the dvergr & their honoured chosen perform War Rites. These are ancient and powerful ceremonies, strange & potent with no set time for occurence. They are used to waken dvergr spirits and bring their powers forth; even used upon men they have effect.

Demifae waken different powers in such a rite, and fae Seers are said to perform their rituals by night or day.
War Rites require either a Svada or someone with 10+ Sorcery to lead the Rites
Dice rolled is by-race. This determines how far you can get & which table you use
All powers can be cancelled at any time. They may take a turn to do so.
All powers have instant cast & a 1min cooldown from when they end unless stated otherwise.
Illusion magic does not work in the day.

Spirit is a biproduct of life and required by it. Like a flame it burns, recovering when some is taken but going out if too much is drawn in one go. Living things make spirit, older & larger creatures make more, and intelligent ones are more able to make use of it. When something dies it's spirit departs, wandering for a time before being drawn to a World Root which it vanishes into, joining the vast sea of energy that flows through them. Some spirits don't, lingering for years, even centuries before disappearing into a World Root. None truely know why & there are many names for such ghosts. Sorcery is the manipulation of these spirits and those of the living, for it is the driving force of all magic. For the brave (or foolish) it even includes tapping the raw power of World Roots at their peril.

Widely feared and often illegal, sorcery and army make for uneasy bedfellows in human militaries; they need the support and the defence against the whims of angry spirits (particularly in longer, bloodier battles). However sorcery is illegal in most human communities and it's practitioners often outlawed, with no rights and no legal defence from violence or injustice. As such men who practice sorcery are called Warlocks, the women witches. While in some communities they are respected as an only defence against spirits, possession & other misery, in others the Church of Free Men perform these duties (ironically with similar methods) and sorcerers are burned at the stake, even today. In all cases though they remain feared, never free of it.

Dvergr see it entirely differently. To dvergr sorcery is acceptable and necesary, being seemlessly integrated into their military to the extent that some men with the gift for (in dvergr eyes rudimentary) sorcery seek indenturement and safety amoung them. Not always the case but it can be, as while dvergr watch them, suspicious of possession, they can accept such people in time - as a lesser class.

Dvergr sorcerers in turn have no problem. Those with a knack for it are free to pursue it. Some things however are taboo, even outlawed, such as inflicting a wandering spirit upon someone against their will, treating this more harshly than the common violence of their culture. Blood-canny especially is illegal amoung all but djupr, though some traffic in it's knowledge. The grey area is manipulation and devouring of free-spirits, which though a social taboo is in most places legal or subject to light penalty.

Militaries throughout the many worlds are forced to value sorcerers. They'll find work with most of them. Only dvergr & outworlders welcome them in this role, making them more common in such armies.

The following can be reused as often as circumstances allow. All of them can be performed without a Rite for preparation (at -5 Sorcery, except for Render Fetish) but require a Sorcery check (sometimes an opposed check!) to use.

Spirit Wards
A ritual all sorcerers are assumed to perform (for free when doing for themselves), involving paints, ungeants, ritual scarring - whatever it is the sorcerer was taught and believes in.
Permits Sorcery saves vs spirits
Can take ritual actions to perform on others, allowing you to roll Sorcery for them when they are attacked by a spirit.

Sense Spirit
Very common power, innate to some creatures. The detection of spirits living or dead, seldom effective beyond 50m (varies by the relative scale of said spirit). Depending on success is relative accuracy of where & what they are. The same in reverse can be used to hide oneself from others.

Command Spirit
Directs a spirit at someone. First there has to BE a spirit, and then you can either toss an ungeant of Ghostblood or similar herbs at someone or (as is more often the case) attempt to direct it with will and projection of your own spirit to direct the wanderer.

Copping an agitated spirit like this causes stun, panic, unconcious or (rarely) killed, depending on the spirit & the circumstances.
Can also be used for exorcism or give +5 bonus when used to resist a spirit.
Sorcery check 1 turn action (sometimes longer), a spirit must be close by

Ghost Binding
You seek out and build mutual awareness of spirits in your area, drawing 1 (or more) to you. Troublesome but ensures a spirit is handy.
-1 to all rolls, -2 for each additional spirit after the 1st
Sorcery check after each combat to see if remaining spirits stay with you
Vastly easier with personal affects or a fetish from the body each spirit came from
With affects/fetish from the target you don't even need to be near them; the spirit WILL find the target while they're on it's world

Devour Spirit
Consume the spirit. Highly unethical, sometimes necesary.
Reduces wound penalties by half OR gives +1 to all action rolls for 10 turns when healthy OR resets a Power cooldown
1 turn action
Scatters remaining bound Spirits at best, causes a conflagation with all nearby spirits at worst

Afflict/Devour Live Spirit
Empower or consume the spirit of another by touch.
1 turn action, Black Art
Empowering can grant the benefit of Devour to someone else, weakening you (restarts cooldowns)
If target has NO ranks in sorcery this may kill them, the same as sending a spirit at someone via Manipulate Wandering Spirit
Devouring a living person or creature's spirit is abhorrent, but confers the benefit of Devour Spirit via a 5 turn ritual.

Render Fetish (Nojta-Feigr)
Carve out a grim token of the dead, stealing a readied Power (By rite, ritual or boon) from the dead.
Steals the remains of the dead spirit, consuming that in later casting.
Generally good for 1 use
Rots to nothing after 1 combat
Requires 5+ Sorcery & a knife
Sorcery check, 1 minute ritual
See Njota-Feigr

Njota-Feigr (AKA "Use of the Dead" or "Necroexousia") is the taking of a dead creature's power by funery rite, creating a grim Fetish. This holds an echo of the fallen's power & drains the last of their spirit. Njota-Feigr takes a few minutes, requiring a knife, strong will & hard stomach to make.
Though its possible (even easy) to do this to the living, doing so is a Black Art in all cultures.

Djupr were the first tribe to practice Njota-Feigr. Amoung them it is used to release the spirit from a body, exhausting it's energy when the fetish is used or burnt. Religiously this prevents lingering ghosts & use of the dead by enemies; practically the need for fertile soil in the depths of their ancient home was too great to waste a body, so Njota-Feigr had to suffice. In times of greatest need it permitted canibalism without repercussion & disrespect to the dead; otherwise the corpse is left 'neith soft earth - Djupr being the only dvergr culture who bury the dead.

Most dvergr are accepting of the need for Njota-Feigr. It's normal for them to desire it, whether or not the Fetish is used, as a means to free their spirit; Dvergr ghosts have a propensity to linger otherwise. If the resources can be spared they are instead burned for the same result, their ashes scattered, or covered by a cairn.

Nagaard do not accept Njota-Feigr, even in war. Should time permit they desire their bodies be consumed by scavengers. They believe this keeps their spirit in the world, not locked in the Roots, and lets them live on in a thousand bodies. Nagaard sometimes refer to their dead as Immortals for this reason. They seldom burn their dead.

Human cultures are not warm toward Njota-Feigr. To them it is a Black Art, condemned by the Church of Free Men, subject to burning, drowning and a host of other death sentences by law. Humans fighting in dvergr armies are often shocked by the practice, typically getting a tattoo to mark their non-compliance in event of their death. In the Marines that tattoo is official and enforced by Marine law, primarily because most Nagaard share the same desire. Humans typically choose either burning, a cairn or burial (time permitting) - varies by culture.

Not quite sorcery, not quite Rites, these are strange powers that Fae are strong in and others have only the faintest grasp thereof. They demand training, practice and benefit from a Rite of Perparation (grants reroll when used); carrying a useable Fetish of any kind grants +2 to the attempts.

Unlike Sorcery, the Esoteric Arts take much practice to master. Gaining 5 ranks of Sorcery permits 2 Esoteric Arts be learned; another is learned every 5 ranks after.

Communion
Requires 5+ in sorcery
Communication and transfer of energy with another. Effective range varies by practitioners, seldom more than a hundred meters - vast distances have been achieved in legend (when fully prepared & by masters of the Esoteric Arts). Much easier when in line of sight. Powerful sorcerers (10+ sorcery) can transfer energy between one another, rolling in each other's stead, seeing through each other's eyes and casting powers through one another as if they stood within each body.

Shape Shifting
Requires 15+ in Sorcery (10+ for Fae)
Requries a fetish of the creature you want to become, and another of yourself if you plan to return
Preparing via ritual reduces cast time; it can be performed regardless
10 Turn action, 5 turn if ritual performed ahead of time
Undressing recommended for large forms

Blood Canny
Requires 10+ in sorcery (5+ for Fae), Black Art (forbidden)
Terrifying. The stuff of old Witch stories & warlock legends. Upon smelling enemy's blood (when they're wounded) reroll attacks at +5 against them and know exactly where they are. You become very hard for them to attack, knowing their intent before they do.
Also ken their state of mind and sometimes their surface thoughts
Tasting their blood permits you to stun them, inflicting pain without touching.
Constantly active if the ritual was performed

Bane of Wrought Iron
Requires Sorcery 5+ for Easy, 10+ for Tricky, 20+ for Hard
Requires line of sight
Jinxing of technology by magic is an often claimed gremlin trick of Fae, witch & dvergr. It's a lot harder than it sounds! The bane of wrought iron is an old fairy trick (if one asks the dvergr). Can weaken metal (easy), jam/Jinx machines (Tricky; Easy vs a machine gun) or cause flash-rust of small stuff and seize engines (Hard).
Made easier by having something that was part of or in long contact with said object
Difficulty increases after 20m, and again after 200. Only legend speaks of Banes beyond a half-thousand strides.

Swallow Light
Requires 10+ Sorcery (5+ for dvergr)
Requires line of sight
An ineffable power to defeat light. Surprisingly challenging, even to Fae, but with profound battlefield utility. Old dvergr trick.
Can darken a fire (easy but still hot!!), extinguish a chemical flare (hard), or stretch & contort the shadows of an area (hard; Easy for Djupr)

Smell
Requires 5+ Sorcery
Requires a thing that smells like what you're trying to spread
Sorcerer must be within at least halfway of the centre
Favourite of jokers amoung dvergr and the mightier Fae, has many and varied potential uses. Blanket a small area with a smell. Skill determines how big an area (A room, a street, a paddock) and how intense the odour (mild, strong, overwhelming).

Ancient dvergr dwelled in the world of Harthglome; a barren globe of air and cyclone with walls and sky of rock. It is a harsh place of bitter cold, all weather turning on a point in the centre that glows brilliantly after the Great Storm's climax when the wind stops and blizzards settle, letting a brief thaw before dimming and starting the slow build to crescendo again. It remains their capital and Dvergr, like most life in Harthglome, dwell for the most part below ground. They farm and hunt and survive often with no direct contact with their world's attempt at a sun. They are a grim people, aggressive and stubborn.

It's no surprise to anyone who has seen Harthglome that dvergr range so far from it through the world roots; they are the most widespread of the "civilized" peoples, controlling far more worlds of worth than men and having founded near-all of the major colonies.

As a people, they are known for three things: Craft, war, and grit. Dvergr are tougher than 10 men, fearsome in a grapple and born to the magic of illusion. Most dvergr start developing a skill for it by their first century, and by old age can be powerful in this art. Sunlight utterly ruins illusion magic and wracks dvergr with pain, slowly turning their skin to dust as eventually they become stone. They suffer poor eyesight making them inferior marksmen but are untroubled by night, able to see some meters in nigh-total dark and possessing keeness of senses to fall back on. Dvergr are long lived but reckoned slower than men; an old dvergr reply being men hurry to die.

Averaging 5 feet in height, rarely 6, they are not so much tall as blocky. Flat noses and shredded ears are a common mark of their violent tendencies. Body hair grows thick & fast on them, muscles become easily dense & slablike, barrel chests grant great endurance. Largish ears and sunken eyes like old men who won't die or age of limb make them unattractive to human eyes but the combination makes them menacing when riled.

Bjartr
Millenia past and still today Bjartr are the true rulers of Harthglome and Stordjod ("Great Nation" or "Empire"); from their people have come more than 2/3 of their history's Svinnr, leader of the dvergr, and it is small wonder. They are warrior-philosophers by nature, their culture upholding wisdom, hard work and honour as chief ideals - indeed they were the first dvergr tribe to develop a written moral code. With vast, wealthy core worlds and a guiding influence upon the other tribes they are the dominant political force amoung the world-nations the dvergr have become.

Bjartr are the craft-lords. They control the seat of power in Harthglome and many of the craft-monks there in most ancient Songhall are Bjartr, labouring long and calling loud as they make things of wonder, woe and great function. Not every bjartr is a craftsmen; some are not even honourable or wise. But most are.

Rada
Widespread, proud and hard working, Rada were the largest nation in the dvergr Stordjod; in recent decades they have been undergoing revolution. Rada hold many worlds, some of them vast and rivalling Harthglome in their industrial might - amoung these a movement has sprung up to break away and form an independant Great Alliance. This is not a first; the Rada have succeeded in the action before and only later returned to the fold by need, war and diplomacy. Rada are a proud people and rightly so, they have made several great Wonders and are a force to reckon with in battle; but they are never entirely unified.

Rada are hard workers. They attack what they do with diligence and purpose, tending to focus on a trade in life and do their best to master it; often at the exclusion of other things. This makes them good at it but unbalanced, for a Rada are seldom content for long.

Fjarri
Uncommon, easy going and adventurous, Fjarri are natural wanderers. They have several less-productive but beutiful worlds which are largely avoided by other dvergr as economic deathtraps. Fjarri tend to be poor for dvergr with a few notable exceptions and are nothing if not inconsistent. They have a limited military capacity, largely a defence force rather than sustaining campaign armies, and are often amoung the early colonists of promising new worlds which they typically sell or lose if they turn out to be worthwhile.

Fjarri mix more easily with other tribes and even humans than most dvergr. Whilst not quite having the same work ethic they've a dvergr's natural endurance for hard labour and many have a deft hand for making things - albiet finite amount of diligence with which to master it. It's common for Fjarri to become well versed in dozens of trades & collect a cosmopolitan, nigh-unintelligible accent by the time they reach old age.

Nagaard
Nagaarn is the dvergr war-god, a merciless deity who accepts no compromise. The Nagaard are his people. In ancient times they were exiled to the surface and suffered terribly with each passing of the year, when the world was bathed in light. This changed them. They gained day sight, lost their fear of the light and became the hardiest survivors of the dvergr. The light exposure has stunted their magic, Nagaard have a weak grip on illusion by old age if they're lucky. Even today their society is nomadic, with few holdfasts populated year round. Their place on the surface and inevitable poverty made them mercenaries, able to deny passage of other tribes across the surface. Their eventual sun tolerance made spreading across other worlds easy, made them ideal as fighters to beat or hold opponents in the day so their fellows of other tribes could end it in the night.

If there's one thing Nagaard know, it is how to fight! They have been involved in every war brought upon the dvergr and most of the ones they started. Nagaard often have little choice; scraping a living from the harshest worlds, always moving, always poor, life as a mercenary is natural and often the best paying work they can find. This breeds a fierce & archaic warrior culture in Nagaard society that remains self-evident in the soldiers it produces.

Djupr
Dwelling furthest from the surface of any Dvergr tribe, far down in the deep rock where a world root forms in their oldest city, Djupr are occult. They have less sun tolerance than most dvergr but are extremely sensitive to magic; Djupr spirit is strong, by their first half-century it is already potent enough to manifest Powers. Secretive and hidden they study the magics of other races. Djupr are said to bargain with trolls, even capture and meddle with Outer Things as has been forbidden by the Bjartr since ancient times, but they deny such things and discredit accusers. They make their money through trade in the rare gems and ores that turn up in their deep mines, along with other wonders that defy explanation.

Djupr are slight for dvergr. At 5 or even 4ft in height they're not much to look at and its precisely this difference that's gotten so many back-alley thugs killed over the centuries. Djupr visibly wither in the day, their skin going dusty in a matter of hours and if the day is long with no shelter to be had they will die wailing in pain, a rock by sundown. For this reason they wear thick clothes and dark goggles, cursing the brightness of suns; only at night do they truely come alive.

Men are a former slave-race. Long reckoned upon for their similarity with fae & dvergr they appear the weaker sibling, possessing no known magic and lacking the lifespan to learn and prove otherwise. For more than a thousand years dvergr held the reigns of man; dvergr ruled their colonies with even hand and iron fist, a rule under which some prospered but man was a slave. He could not rule himself by dvergr reckoning, was fit for manual work and not much of that. Man suffered. Little food, no teachings, no hope, rebellion futile against overwhelming dvergr might. Man learned patience. So when for reason they could not discern dvergr troop concentrations dropped, and dropped again in a span of years, dvergr leaving in droves and not returning, man saw his chance.

Revolution resulted. For a hundred years it spread from one world to the next, and still peters on in some isolated colonies. The dvergr replied with force and underestimated man time & again as he took dvergr skills and dvergr tools in hand and earned a measure of respect the hard way. With force requirements against Outer Things growing higher dvergr had no choice, they broached compromise and the first few independant worlds for humanity resulted. In others the Grand Revolution continued. Man still knows not where or why the true force of dvergr armies has been for more than 300 years, but apart from passing efforts the dvergr have not reclaimed.

Men were fighting themselves before their Grand Revolution got half way and still are. Men are not reckoned as individually violent as dvergr, but many scholars debate it for they collected more wars-per-generation than dvergr a matter of years after the independance of those first worlds; those nations splintered, but dvergr had no hand free to retake them... in some, the fae did. In others the trolls rapined mankind. Yet another was lost to history, its roots closed on their natural cycle but never reopened. Man thought slavery was the worst of suffering for a thousand years, but in a violent universe he's found freedom more costly than he ever dreamed.

Humans average 5 to 6 feet in height, the wealthy averaging 6 or more from good diet. Lean but long of stride they keep up with dvergr on the march adequately, make good sprinters and need less food. Their lean frames are offset by fast reflexes, good day-eyes and an edge in reach, making them well suited to maneuvre warfare.

Free Men of the Core Worlds
What states hold power amoung men are those of the core worlds and man's home in Midgard; held together by religion & necesity the many city-states there are governed in ways varying from monarchy to republican theocracy and a bredth of systems in between, yet most share a predominance of the Heilige faith. Some remain feudal, having been independant from dvergr governance for mere decades yet thrust into an age of industry and gunpowder long before society could adapt - all while nightmarish horrors and roaming spirits haunt their every step.

The result is a mixed body of wary people, resentful & mistrusting of nonhumans. Some are educated, others could never afford it and most had no state education provided. Many have military service in their history as state militias and conscription are both common and paid in food & quarts of rum alone. Many states are sheltered and have little need for the draft, creating a different mindset with peoples who have (in most cases) never seen war. Men mostly fight each other, with treaties bringing such wars to a halt when the Church intervenes or fae or a troll horde come rampaging through their core world.

When not in a state of war the Core worlds are the most wealthy of humanity's few independant homes. They are the backbone of mankind; without their support the less populous worlds cannot survive. When united, the Core worlds make a force to give even the dvergr pause.

Free Men of the Lesser Worlds
"Lesser worlders" or "Out-worlders" are those who live - by choice or by fate - upon the inhospitable, isolated and sometimes barely-survivable places humankind has either stumbled on or was brought to centuries ago by the dvergr. They live a bleak existence. Easy prey for trolls and forced to co-exist with Fae they've the highest death rate by violence of all men. It makes tough men, good fighters with quick eyes, and keeps the Old Faiths alive in places too isolated for support from the Church of Heil. Some are nomadic and all of them are well aware just how vulnerable they are; it's a common ambition amoung out-worlders to seek life in a Core World if only they can find (and afford) passage through the World Roots.

The Old Faiths bring opportunity to an Out Worlder. They trade with dvergr & Fae, underhand or openly, and through the Lesser worlds wonderous goods are bought by wealthy men of midgard and the Cores then smuggled in. The Lesser Worlds have a reputation for the underhand, being cast as thieves and cutthroats by the Church. Crusading armies have come and gone over the centuries, but the wealthy need the Lesser worlds & the people there are stubborn. They have never been truely conquored.

Lesser World humans are a hardy bunch. They're used to hardship and don't take their next breath for granted. Making good soldiers they're as readily recruited by dvergr as Core World armies, being often employed as guides by expeditionary armies and reliable line troops in the 'Cores, though mistrusted by the Church of Heil. Having a relatively undeveloped society they're nearly all illiterate, with minimal industry in their cultures and thus a similarly limited skill set in most of them.

Bondsmen of the Dvergr
Called Slaves or even Traitors by the independants, not all men are free. Life under dvergr rule affords small chance of a higher station but gives a more secure home; where dvergr armies still hold firm Fae and Troll alike both hesitate to raid, while other horrors are kept safely at bay. It makes a good and stable environment... but the work is hard. Very hard. Dvergr give safety but demand much in return, and a bondsman in dvergr worlds has to be tough to keep up; he has no choice. If he doesn't make enough he can't afford his leased tools and leased land, loses them, and has nothing. Most men in the Independants live to a similar standard but are rarely worked as hard. Nonetheless a bondsman can earn his peace, becomming a Free man, entitled to some defence in Law and often becomming merchants. Only lands so marked are sold to Freemen under dvergr law.

Bondsmen are generally tough; tough of mind, tough of body. They get rudimentary education and are used in a variety of trades but a high output is universally demanded of them. Those who don't cut it become homeless, penniless and don't survive long as beggars - if they aren't killed outright. The attrition rate varies wildly, those who work the mines often dieing so young that their women marry 7 men and by age 25 are left with 1 or 2 or none at all while others in less horrific work may die at the ripe old age of 50. Thats a good 10 years better than his fellows in the Lesser Worlds.

Fae lesser gods of fidelity, beings alike life incarnate. They are everywhere life holds strong. In many ways the opposite of Outer Things, they bring life and fertility where they tread but chaos and madness as well. Fae are a force of nature: Wild, unpredictable, dangerous and necessary. They are not one race but many, all tied together by a few more powerful kinds who form into large tribes. Many fae are gifted with a varying ability at fortelling; they know could have been, what could be, and sometimes what will be… but can rarely tell these apart and have a child’s attention span. Though they hold the future’s secrets they have no real ability to plan ahead, and are as enigmatic as they are incomprehensible.

Fae are short lived. Some possess inherited minds; literally, the offspring think the same thoughts and retain many memories of their forebears. Others don't so much inherit memories as possess foretelling & glimpses of the past. Their bodies mend swiftly though sometimes wrongly, and pain has little bearing on the mightier kinds as few weapons (unless most grossly employed) can fell them. Strangest of all fae breed with men; not all kinds but some, and it's sometimes fatal to a human mother. Any resultant children are as the fae parent most times, while the exceptions are Demifae and when born into human society are outcast or slain as babies in many cases. The Heilic Church has no place for demifae.

Fae strength is remarkable, their speed daunting and their wit hard to follow. These things make fae a fast and terrible foe, unpredictable and frightening. Nonetheless their culture is primitive. They make little use of the gun & make poor students of marksmanship, but are handy with bombs & rally fast from a defeat. In a breakthrough they are reckoned near equal with cavalry, being almost as fast and just as terrifying.

Aflr are second only to Centaur in greatness. Their mighty erlkings rage across skys in the Wild Hunt, their terrible hounds shake the hearts of man at their comming. Aflr are wild but relatively straight-headed as compared with many fae breeds and have been known to take human slaves, sometimes in their thousands, taking them back to their home in Alfheim or there other great worlds, Lentua & Kittila.

True Aflr thus are mighty beings, whose skin shines like a sun & who stand taller than men yet fly weightlessly on a whim, able to pass through walls and break bodys easy as bread... so sayeth legend, and sometimes legend is true. An Aflrborn thus is a creature made for boon or bond or whim & fancy between an Aflr and human parent. Aflrborn are mighty strong, being stronger than they appear, but obvious for the glow of their bodies and possessing strange untameable spirit. Powers of their Aflr sire manifest early, and an Aflrborn is full grown by their tenth year.

Satyr are the goatmen of chaos & wild meetings, reckoned gods of blood & breeding by those men unfortunate enough to be near them. Great strength and powerful drive are Satyr's to wield (often blindly) in the manner their betters demand. Left to their own devices their are a plague unto human communities, courting or taking women and as likely to flee as slaughter when challenged. When rallied to war they make terrible enemies.

Standing some 5 to 6ft high, hairy of body & tail, often behorned and wild of face & feature. Their feet are mannish though heavy, their shoulders broad and bodys mighty. Satyr favour the warmer climbs, being seen more in worlds suchlike & the south of Midguard where men of grassland & arid wilds know fear at their comming. Yet Satyr are not totally beyond reason and can be offered to, and in this way men buy some peace from them. When satyr take a woman her fate is grim, but on the rare occasion she has child a Satyrson can result. Such men are thick headed, hot tempered, tailed & fearless. They make great warriors (though poor marksmen) and learn well to hide, for the Church of Heil pays gladly for every satyr skull men bring - and a satyrson is close enough.

Rifleman
Bayonet strength of the section, hardy and reliable. The toughest fighters and sharpest marksmen come from these troops. All riflemen are rated for the safe & repeated use of R108 rifle grenades and related munitions. Unfortunately supplies of the new R108 rifle grenades to fit the new model rifle are extremely limited, so many are forced to employ old pattern rifles & R32s.

Gunner
Machine gunners are good shots with the size & steady personality to handle such powerful weapons with skill and reliability. They make the base of fire for any unit they work in; under a machine gun's suppression the rifles move forward, who struggle to match it as the gun team moves up in turn. Machine guns are incredibly obvious and come a close 3rd for enemy fire priority behind sigs & officers. They are expensive, complicated, and very ammo hungry.

Important note: Gunners carry little ammo and no secondary weapon. The gun is heavy, which combined with armour makes carrying much else impossible. They rely on the rest of the section & particularly their loader to carry ammo & assist reloading. Player gunners command their gun team.

Requires 5 in Armourer; first 5 Armourer cost half as many skill points
Reroll armourer when repairing/maintaining a machine gun
Must spend armourer check between missions to maintain the gun, reflecting time taken and possibility of trouble later
Can work with a Loader to reduce MG reload time to 1 turn; he is subordinate to the Gunner

First Aider
A rifleman with extra training & extra duties in the form of first aid. Anyone will drag wounded out of harm's way but a First Aider comes back. When the area's clear they assess and bind wounds, calling stretchers for the seriously injured to be taken back to the company medic. In all other respects these troops are riflemen. Even so, they come last on an enemy's to-kill list as the wounded these men tend to will occupy more effort & resources than replacing the dead.

First Aider is a Specialist
Requires 5 ranks in 1st aid
Requires 5 in First Aid; first 5 First Aid cost half as many skill points

First Aiders can swap the 2 Specialist skills granted each rank up for 3 First Aid
First Aiders gain 1 bonus point in Detect & Scrounge at each rank up

At 1st Rank, First Aiders can assess as a free action when treating wounded
At 2nd Rank, First Aiders can requesition High Cost Drugs
At 3rd Rank, First Aiders can attempt Field Surgery without the kit (need sharp object)
At 4th Rank, First Aiders can choose from the following:

Pioneer
Similar to engineers but less qualified & closer to hand. Organic to your marine battalion, Pioneers have 2 motos: "First we dig 'em, then we die in 'em" and the shorter "Can do!" - both are literal truth. They make & break fortifications and are qualified to operate flamethrowers, use demolition charges and destroy enemy equipment. Nobody shapes the battlefield quite like the Pioneers!

Svada
Most feared and hated of all dvergr troops are the Svada. Many dvergr practice sorcery, as it is accepted in dvergr culture and useful in the field... but few have the talent to become professionals. Svada are infiltration and CQB experts, wielding their strange powers to get a unit close, render an enemy defenceless and slip out of deathtraps alive. They receive significantly more training than other troops and assigning one to a unit speaks volumes as to the importance of it's mission. For their powers Svada are honoured, valued and feared.

At each rank until achieved, Svada may Trial for a Virhosk melee weapon. This is a duel to first blood.

At 1st Rank, Svada gain an additional +1 Grit, Journeyman of the Rites
At 2nd Rank, Svada gain +3 Melee vs groups & Large opponents, Ritual Scar (choose a War Rite; from now on it is always prepared)
At 3rd Rank, Svada gain another Ritual Scar, may be permitted to Lead the War Rite, Master of the Rites
At 4th Rank, Svada choose from the following:

Thane of the Rites: Perform 3 additional ceremonies per night, gain +4 Sorcery, may employ Black Arts (with due need, answerable to battalion Virhosk)
He/She of the Fray: +3 Melee with svaedstav, gain rerolls in melee for 10 turns after felling an enemy by melee, may Trial for a second Virhosk melee weapon

Signaller
Trained radio operator, drilled in the use and maintenence of his wireless radio along with wire laying, morse code & signalese. First and foremost these troops are riflemen, but the radio is expensive and makes him a high-priority target as through it he's the unit's lifeline to reinforcements & fire support. Skilled in navigation and map reading.

Important note: While it is possible to modify the R88 radio pack for listening to unlisted frequencies this is not done in combat. It can only operate on one channel at a time and a ground troop must remain on their company channel to call support, give & hear warnings and respond to orders.

At 1st Rank, Signallers gain access to the Rifle & are issued 1 hand grenade per mission
At 2nd Rank, Signallers can feel extremely chuffed about still being alive
At 3rd Rank, Signallers are absurdly lucky to still be alive
At 4th Rank, Signallers stand accused of cheating

15 points at start, 4 ranks each mission completed (may vary).
Specialist skills cost 2 points to raise by 1; taking 4 ranks at once will net an extra point.
A maximum of 5 ranks is possible in any 1 skill at start.
Skill checks are D20 + ranks in that skill

Sorcery = Used to resist hostile Powers & identify/compel spirits. 5 ranks grant 2 powers of the Esoteric Arts, with another every 5 ranks after. Every 5 ranks allows a further +/- 1 on War Rites rolls and an additional Ritual between missions.

Demolitions = The use of explosives to achieve maximum effect with minimum amounts of charge & prevention of the same. 5+ to set & use charges safely & to make improvised explosive devices (grenade traps etc), 10+ to modify explosive devices, 15+ to make explosives from scrounged materials.

Signals = Proficiency with electrics and radio equipment. It takes 5 ranks to correctly operate a field radio, 10 to fix it when it breaks, 15 to modify it – such as for expanding the presets and the finding of enemy frequencies.

Rare Talent (requires 5 sorcery) = Gifted practitioner of the Rites. Gain an additional Power from War Rites each night, but suffer worse than most in the day; additional -1 Detect, Prowess & Grit during daylight hours

Dusty = Native to Njordrheim or from a life spent too-much in the sun, you are overly sun-conditioned for one of your tribe. Sight & day penalties scaled 1 increment toward Day, Rites reduced by 1 dice size.

Alcoholic = Even for dvergr you drink heavily, slipping spirits in your canteen and bottles in your bergen. -1 on actions, +2 on after action activities. Will check suspends penalty for D3 turns, once per combat.

Human

Workhorse = Poverty leaves many with a bleak life of hard work & toil, you found enough food to grow strong by it. +2 Grit, 50% less skill points at start 25% less each time you survive a mission. (rounding down)

Pauper = Fallen from wealth or running from law, you bring an educated mind to the service. -1 Grit, gain +25% skill points at start & each time you survive a mission.

Shadow Sight = Born to a world of dull sun or simply a life in shadow, you see better in the dark than other men. Conversly you don't see so well in the day! Grants Lesser Night Eyes (as with Nagaard).

Purposeful = Never one to rush a shot, you Aim before shooting whenever possible. +2 Aim, cannot take Cyclic checks, -3 to Snap Shots. Prone to comments of "What's the rush?" & "There's no hurry..." at odd moments.

Victim of Bureaucracy = He’s from the artillery! Sure enough he doesn’t hear too well (-5 Detect, trouble hearing orders) but knows his way around mortars, field guns, and other big guns (+10 on checks related to their use).

Joined the Circus = As a kid you ran off and joined the circus. As a result you're a talent with ropes, rolls & climbing, start with 5 ranks in Ruse & Scrounge, and can reroll 1 of each per mission... however, you have no other skills initially.

Old Breed = Been there, done that. It's written in your face, voice & thousand yard stare - you've fought as a Marine through wars before this, maybe too many. Start with a tier more experience than normal but old injuries (metal & physical) inflict -2 on Actions. Occasionally tormented by old memories.
*the other players nickname your character; usually unflattering!

Fighting Style (Gained through race & experience)

Scrapper = +2 unarmed & grapple melee, +1 improvised & heavy melee, ignore enemy charge bonus
Bayonet Expert = +2 melee with bayonets, can opt to Fend when not charging (add Reflex to melee but can only wound at best), reroll melee when charging with a bayonet
Swordsman = +1 melee with swords, draw sword as free action, can roll a 2nd attack with sword(s) vs the same/new threshold against same/new opponent upon scoring wound or kill respectively. Same opponent can't win on 2nd opposed roll, at best they fend you off.

Reflex modifier applies only when a weapon is changed to that size, as it’s already factored in to its current modifier.

Oversize = Must deploy to fire, typically has a tripod or other mount.Large = -5 reflex on snapshots, takes primary & secondary slotsAverage = No mods, assumed when no size is mentionedLight = +5 reflex on snapshots, can be a secondary, can carry more when a primarySidearm = +5 reflex on snapshots, draw in halfturn, works with offhand weapons

Barbed wire roll, iron star pickets & hammer
Common, painful to carry, even worse to run into. Includes a few iron star pickets & a hammer.
Enough wire for a 10m barrier.
Hammer is a +3 Melee weapon, Moderate damage, one handed

Field Surgery Kit
Includes scissors, scalpel, tweezers, gigli saw and various other sharp surgical-steel implements. Creatively violent persons can find other uses for all of it.
Permits Field Surgery
Grants +5 to Field Surgery attempts (pulling bullets, extracting phosphor etc)

*High Cost Drugs require a Scrounge check to requisition more than 2 hypos per mission

High Cost Drug; Blood Thickener
An old dvergr drug in it's modern form. Stops bleeding in moments & renders the patient a rapid clotter for the next few hours. Causes drowsiness and hunger. Kills men in seconds.
1 turn to apply
Up to 6 hypos per Special Gear slot
Fatal to humans

High Cost Drug; Blod-Gynja
Ancient dvergr psychotropic, variously known as Bullroarer, Blood Warmer & Redeye. Widely illegal to civilians but nonetheless common behind-the-scenes in fighting & bloodsports. Used by Marines to restore conciousness.
Causes a pshychosis, inducing heightened agression. Side effects include tremors, nightmares, insomnia, bleeding of the eyes & (rarely) heart failure.
Can revive patients very suddenly, they'll ignore most wound penalties for a few minutes.
Concious subjects gain +4 Grit, shrug off most wound penalties, -4 on shooting & skill checks
Grit check for side effects after a few minutes.
Up to 6 hypos per Special Gear slot

High Cost Drug; Edrhond
Modern dvergr tranquilizer, AKA "Steady-Eddy" "Sweet dreams" & "Rind lips". When used in small quantities (1 hypo or less) it can steady the hands, giving it utility for snipers, but even in mild doses will make walking & thinking difficult. Higher doses cause unconciousness in moments, overdose is fatal.
Side effects include dry lips, numbness, short term memory loss, confusion & loss of co-ordination
Grants concious subjects +D3 Aim after a few minutes
Sometimes helps with surgery by steadying hands. Will require assistence.
Grit check for side effects when it takes
Up to 6 hypos per Special Gear slot

Aeviotr Preservative
Rare herb ungeants of dvergr make, reknowned for their preservative qualities upon fetishes. Costly.
Permits a Fetish to last up to a week.
4 appliations per Special Gear slot

Aevorkr Enlivener
Blood & mineral fluid possessed of a spirit-agitant quality. Ancestral Djupr creation sometimes used by the wealthy in funerals, quite hard to get.
Allows a Fetish 2+D2 uses
Not compatible with Aeviotr
Scrounge check to get enough for more than 1 application
Up to 4 applications per Special Gear slot

Eitr Oil
A thick poison with distinctive sharp smell, extreme bitter taste. Not terribly useful for assasination (it's too obvious) but with great & long-held applications in war. Can be mass produced cheaply and as such is readily available to Svada, sometimes finding its way into the wrong hands.
Apply like oil to bladed weapons (including bolts & arrows). Not effective on bullets.
Each application is good for D2 hits
On hit it causes crippling pain next turn, death within 1-2 minutes
First aiders carry an antidote. Renders Eitr nonfatal (usually) but the pain can go on for quite a while.
10 applications per Special Gear slot

Ghost Blight
Nasty powder, refined from the guts of serpents in the deeps of Harthglome. Expensive material in lead grenades. Contents are very toxic. Thrown like a grenade, a small explosive charge spreads the powder causing intense nausea despite gas masks and heavy trench coats. Enemies who actually inhale the stuff unprotected will die, but draws (even creates!) Vetala.
Scrounge check to get >1
Powder spread over up to 20m area (subject to wind), lasts until dispersed
Range 50m
-4 accuracy
+2 for Aiming
Up to 3 per Special slot

Carrier Pidgeons
One cage, 6-8 loyal messengers. Keep covered to avoid panicking the birds.
Includes a bag of messenger papers & some spare pencils. More reliable than radio but one way; enemy will fire on pidgeons if they see them (occasionally hitting one).

Pump-action Shotgun Foregrip
Unhelpful on short shotguns but preferred by many for 16" and beyond, a foregrip can aid control & give better shucks. Very simple to make.
+1 Cyclic & +1 Accuracy with full shotguns, +1 on Snapshots, -1 Aim
Made & Fitted by an Armourer Check (Easy)

Adjustable Ironsights (Shotgun)
Shotties usually have beads or other simple, unobtrusive sight markers. That's fine with shot, but not so good with slugs or a spike! Fitting some adjustable ironsights will help.
-1 on Snapshots, +1 Aim, Adjustable sights
Made & Fitted by an Armourer Check (Moderate)

Rifle Round Spicing
+2 Penetration, +1 Damage IF round was Light or Moderate, -4 Cyclic, may become Brutal recoil
May (D4 roll of 1) need to Scrounge a new firing pin, else these will break it
Created via Armourer checks (easy, roll for quantity)

LMG Magazine Lugs (Old Pattern Rifle)
Old pattern rifles have internal magazines not dissimilar to the Norden Gun and use the same rounds; some filing and adjustment of the magwells can allow use of the Norden Gun sickle mags.
x6 magazine capacity (effectively unlimited for 1 combat per mag)
-1 Accuracy when Prone (awkward), -1 on Snap Shots (-5 when prone)
Made & Fitted by an Armourer Check (Moderate, scrounge for the magazines)

Jackdaw Mag Covers
Open sided mags account for 2/3 of the Jackdaw's stoppages; many troops learn to wrap the magazines in cloth to keep the worst of the sand, mud & dirt from entering the weapon in this way.
Achieved via Armourer check (easy, roll for quantity)

MMG Ammo Pouch
Get a few rigid bracers (Cut wood, saw steel, whatever you can find) for a frame, make a cloth bag around it, stamp clips onto the MMG and hang the resulting pouch under the gun; up to 10 turn belts become practical on the move using this. Can also make spares.
Requires nonrigid belts.
Achieved via 1 Scrounge check & 1 Armourer check (Moderate)

Shank
Little more than sharpened metal. Sometimes made by prisoners.
+2 melee weapon, else as knife, counts as Improvised melee weapon
Achieved via Armourer checks (Easy, but takes the time of a Moderate)

Molotov Coctails
Glass bottles full of petrol or turpentine, a small amount of a clinging agent (egg whites, motor oil, tire tubing...) and an alcohol soaked wick. Once the recipe is known any idiot can make one. Intended for starting fires, particularly over the exhaust louves of armoured vehicles to overheat them & possibly start an internal fire.
Those with demo skill make more effective molotovs.
Achieved via Scrounge check (easy) & demolition check (very easy)

Bundled Stick Grenade
Take 7 stick bombs, unscrew the stick from 6, tie their fuse strings to the last one's string, bind the 6 bomb heads around the 7th. One tug and they're all armed; throw it and get clear!
Improvised anti tank munition. Any idiot can make one.
Anti-tank, 10m throw range
-3 Accuracy
Snapshots n/a

Dvergar (plural; Dvergr is singular) have no word for religion. They have customs (Sidr), a great reverance for ancestors, and share little of it with man. Thus his limited knowledge of their ways.

Some dvergr are born to mighty spirit, growing into formidable beings. These ones may linger centuries, even millenia after death; rarely they retain will and a thinking mind. When such a dvergr becomes Svinnr this is made everlasting and by such are their gods made. A god can be unmade... but it is hard, and there are few legends amoung the Edda of mortals felling gods. Treachery or combat amoung the gods is more typically their end.

Prime Deities

Mótsognir - Battle Roarer, Eldest, Father. Chief god of the dvergr and their progenitor. All are descended from his makings and Bjartr are his first descendants, bearing the most likeness to him. Mótsognir is invoked in matters of law and governance. Worshipped in many human cultures by other names. Wednesday is his holy day and he revered with the wagings of war, mind, poetry & hunting.

Durinn - Swordmaker, First Son of Mótsognir, Patron god of the Bjartr. Famously crafted Gramrsvaed, the sword of kings; once lost but twice found by Svinnr. Reckoned the greatest in weaponcraft of all dvergr, prayed to by dvergr warriors that their steel be true in battle. Song Hall, where wonder-forges are tended by monk-smiths in Harthglome is his most sacred site.

Reginn - The Wise, The Deft, Lord of Harvests, Son of Hreiðmarr. Patron god of the Rada. Discovered man & fae in the great sagas, defeating the first Man- & Erl-kings with his brother Fafnir. Said to have taught men to farm, work metals, sail seas, tame beasts, build houses, spin, weave, & sew. Prayed to for good fortune in farm, trade & craft.

Dvalinn - Sleeper, The Dormant One, Changer of Ways. Patron god of the Djupr, creator of the first runescript and calmer of spirits living & dead. Unknowable, neither male nor female and wearing many faces. Reckoned as he whose dreams open and shut the World Roots, Dvalinn is hardest of the dvergar gods to comprehend and the hardest to please by deed or sacrifice. A keeper of secrets and knower of the past.

Gefn - Mother of the Norns, She of Crop & Field, Gold Weeper, Chooser of the Slain. Goddess of the Dis and Norns. Invoked in matters of fertility and love, first daughter of Njörðr. Wife of Reginn and long saught by the Jotnar in the Elder Days as hostage against Hreidmarr's warring upon them. Reckoned Chooser of the Slain by Djupr and Nagaard (one of few things the two peoples agree upon), both claim she decides who amoung wounded lives and dies.

Njörðr - Father of Winds, Sea Lord, Wayfinder. Patron God of the Fjarri. He whose favor is saught by sea farer and travellor both, Njörðr is said to ride whales 'neith oceans deep and call upon winds to lost travellors. At times friend and foe of the Jotun sea-god Ægir.

Nagaarn - Lord of the Fray, Blind God of Exile, He who Piles the Dead. Patron god of the Nagaard, largest of the Ancients and formerly the dvergar war-god. Brother of the Traitor King, Daubadagr. Outcast like his people in the Black Years. Four arms yet both eyes blighted by Dvalinn in the Elder Days to prevent him slaying Durinn. Sought for courage and a hard heart in battle.

Dead & Lesser Deities

Hreidmarr - King over Gods, Conquorer, Old Greed Eyes. A dead Svinnr who made terrible war upon Jotun and Troll, warred with Fae and chained three gods. Killed by his sons Fafnir & Reginn who lusted for his wealth; Fafnir was killed by the human Sigurd wielding Gram, a sword of Reginn's craft. So it is that Reginn is still revered while Svinnr Hreidmarr and mighty Fafnir no longer answer the Rites.

Fafnir - The Mighty, He of Unbroken Grip, The Hating, True Son of Hreidmarr. Dead son of Hreidmarr and his murderer. Reckoned the mightiest warrior of his time, second only to Nagaard and Mótsognir in fighting prowess. A lesser deity gifted in shape shifting who used Blood Magic against his father. Later slain by the human Sigurd, wielding the sword Gram of Reginn's craft.

Daubadagr - Traitor King, Canin, Shaker of Worlds. Fallen God of the Matask, Brother of Nagaarn, once Svinnr who brought about the Black Years after he travelled beyond Ginnungagap and returned a cannibal-king. He was deposed by Council, met in battle and slain with his army. Their bodies were mutilated, taken to and burned in Muspellheim, then the ashes scattered in Svartálfaheim. Yet not all stayed dead and some stalk & murder amoung the worlds today. Known to men as Loki, the Tortured and a host of other names in their own traditions, for the dvergar under Daubadagr ruled them in the centuries before the Black Years.

Rán - Thief of Hearts, She of Nets, Lady Luck. Significant goddess in Fjarri tradition. Reckoned by men to be a Jotun goddess and reckoned a dvergr by Fjarri, none but the gods know and they don't answer. Bringer of unexpected wealth & fortune but leads many astray. Commonly invoked goddess amoung gamblers & lovers.

Man's old gods were a mix of creatures, including dvergr lords who ruled swathes of their world, great fae, conquorer kings, even trolls. In the eldest of days they were Jotun. All had mighty spirits and some still answer prayers. Though these beings are known by many names, most men know them by the following.

Zeus - Odin, Woden, All Father. Chief god of man who rules authority, sky and thunder. Appealed to in matters of law and wisdom, sometimes war. Fearsome and demanding, requires a hefty sacrifice. Considered by some an old trickster. Described by some dvergr as another name for Mótsognir, others contend he is really Hreidmarr or Durinn.

Ares - Thor, Teiwaz, Tyr. God of war, combat & victory. Appealed to by warriors & kings in battle and times of war. A warriors god, simpler and easier to understand than most - always brave. Reckoned by dvergr to be an interpretation of Hreidmar, Nagaarn, or one of several dead human emperors (Sashan the Wise, Miroslav the Great, Vasil the Strong)

The Thousand Others - Most gods of old myth are honoured here, yet they number too many to list. If men of old revered them men in Warglory may call of them in appeal and hope for answer.

Heilige, also called the Church of Man or Church of the Great Mother promises men an afterlife of peace, joy & splendour if they cast out all wickedness, sorcery, debauchery and falsch ("Wrong things" - changelings & nonhumans).

Core to Heilige belief is human origins. It suggests man as the first being, born of the Great Mother. She lives still with her chosen in her holy city, vast & mighty, and the holiest of men may return there upon their death. She cast men out in eons past for their mingling with the Falsch, such that she nor others could tell man from beast. She cast them out so that those of humanity pure in heart & honourable of deed may find her city again in death. There is no place there for falsch, and the slaying of them is no crime; slaying of falsch to free pure men is in fact a holy deed worthy of entrance to her city of heaven.

Falsch are said to have sprung from the machinations of dirt, wind & rain in the many lands & many worlds around heaven. It is taught to avoid dealings with them, to be ready for treachery & bloodshed at all times from the Falsch for they are terrible and their seed corrupting.

Heilige faith originates from an older faith of the Great Mother. The two are differed by the prophet Heil, a woman who advocated great change in the conductment of the Mother's faith. Tammaism is named after its place of origin, Tammow, and holds to peace with nonhumans but the outcasting of changelings. Tammaism advocates peace and love amoung men. Heil was raised in a time when dvergr ruled Tammow, saw Tammaic priests take tax for the dvergr and grow corrupt 'neith their rule. She lead a rebellion, which grew and is recorded as the foundation of the Great Revolution.

The Heilige church has one Goddess and many saints; contrary to less hostile Tammaism which had only The Great Mother. Chief amoung these is Heil, referred to as Her Favoured Daughter.

Great Saints of Heilige Faith

Heil of Tammow
Warrior messiah, Lady of Blades, Falschbane, Guide of Souls. Mighty warrior woman who created their Faith of Heilige. Appealed to by priests on behalf of their people. Accepts sacrifices of young animals, holy incence, skulls of Falsch. Most often invoked over the fallen, that she may see them and show them the way to heaven.

Nadezhda
Freer of Spirits, Holder of the Cup. Saint of healing. Applead to by the sick & wounded. Brought water to the wounded in the Battle of Red Sands early in the Great Revolution; though there was no water to bring her cup always held more for the Heilii wounded, and of those she helped none died of their wounds. Reckoned a great healer in later life, attributed miraculous restoration of sight & restoring the mortally injured. Her priestesses serve as healers around their convents.

Dondandoral
Brightsword, Wyrding Lord, The Strange, He of Sight. Invoked in matters pertaining to ghosts, fae, and the repelling of other strange things. Much feared human sorcerer in the high point of the Great Revolution, leading its strongest faction & in turn guiding them all for 15 years. Creator & patron saint of the Wardens, a cult of fae & troll hunters that remain strong today. Priests handle ghosts and lesser Falsch but against greater enemies Wardens of Dondandoral (also known as Confessors) are a force of answerable solely to the High Legate of the Heilige. They have thrice destroyed kings in the two centuries since their inception and are feared by many.

Lesser Saints of Heilige Faith

The Church of Man has many saints. Amishi the Pure who slew her family's changelings, Ainfean the Mighty who slew the dvergr drappa Unglin, Fina the Gatherer whose humble garden fed an army, Nikita the Swift who upon his horse Sibicto brought news before it happened... they number in the hundreds. New saints are cannonized every few years as legends arise and are either disproven or accepted as fact by the high priests of Heil.

Post any questions, thoughts & interest as suits you. Like i say in the spoiler at the start, my intention is that others give this game a go - i've spent a great deal of time writing this as the game rolls along, enjoyed it immensely at that, and would rather it spread than just stay with my players & myself.

Use and magpie what you will with due credit back to myself. I'll be happy to help you make a game of it!

The game system is for infantry combat. I have done variants for tanks and other things besides.
Artillery, air support, tanks, naval gunnery and the vagaries of supply lines are down to the GM to supply, inasmuch as they play in the mudfoot's fight. Players have no direct control over these things - barring what they break or steal. It's a fun system & the players enjoy it.